This is the first concept sketch, still trying various and angles and possibilites. Almost sure this won't be a final approach. This is going to harder than I though—but always fun. Comments would be really appreciated!

I think I got it!
Instead of just putting the scene in plain sight, I'll try a more subtle approach. The image is going to be fron the perspective of the astronaut looking at Ellie and through its eye's reflection we can see what's about to be revealed. A Gigantic spacecraft and two over-sized siblings of Ellie as mysterious silohuettes approaching from behind as well. I really like this one.

Elmasfeo — Ellie lives!

I'll try mood sketches of this one later today, I can't wait! What do you guys think?

I threw some color on my last sketch, don't know if I like it as my final approach yet. Maybe I need to play w color a bit more.

umbrellasky

09-13-2005, 07:11 PM

haha cool! :) This is looking good, nice work!

Korline

09-13-2005, 11:49 PM

very cool creature design, like the reflection in the eyes, good luck :thumbsup:

Rudeone

09-13-2005, 11:58 PM

Cool sketches!

I like your latest idea, but I think it would be more interesting if you reversed it, you know instead of looking at the alien with the spacedude reflecting in his/her eyes I think it would be cooler if we were looking at the spacedude with the alien reflecting in his helmet, just a thought:) keep it up!

tarrzan

09-14-2005, 12:40 AM

Cool sketches!

I like your latest idea, but I think it would be more interesting if you reversed it, you know instead of looking at the alien with the spacedude reflecting in his/her eyes I think it would be cooler if we were looking at the spacedude with the alien reflecting in his helmet, just a thought:) keep it up!

Carlos, great idea!! So on the lines of what Carlos said, I think it'd be great if you reversed it. It would really make it more subtle, but more scary I think.

Ducklator

09-14-2005, 01:19 AM

hey! realy nice sketch!!

can't wait to see more!!:bounce:

cLos71

09-14-2005, 02:06 AM

I truly appreciate it. I will keep on sketching this week trying to tighten the composition and the angle—trying to make it more "spectacular". I think my biggest concern is to be able to communicate successfully using only the reflective surface. I'll work on the sketch tonight and post a revised tomorrow or maybe later tonight.

Here's the revised sketch, I like this one too. I'll play w color later tonight. I got to Spectacularize the background somehow. Hmmm, I'm going to browse for some inspiration. Thanks again for the feedback!

I think this is it, don't remember ever putting so much time into coloring a "quick" sketch. It was all worth it. I feel pretty good about this one, it could be ready for line art by this weekend. I'll sit on it for a couple of days to see if I change my mind. Of course, feedback is always very much appreciated!

You know I couldn't leave it alone. Here's another approach, composition is not totally there, this is more for mood and set-up. Now I can't decide... I'll give it a couple of days, your feedback will be much appreciated.

I'm still debating on which one of the sketches to pick, my head hurts. In the meantime I sat down for a few hours to do a rendering test, just to workout kinks and narrow down my approach once I decide on a sketch. Any thoughs?

elmasfeo

09-18-2005, 09:27 AM

well, I think it's a good idea to show the men's face through the glass, like in your last one, otherwise it could look a bit like an alien wearing a spacesuit... personally I don't like a lot perspectives from someone's eyes, I find it difficult to realise that the image is what someone is seeing, but that's just personal I think...

That face rendering is great! it looks very realistic...lights are very well done (why is he looking up if the alien is in front of him?) You are also doing a great work with the distorted reflections, you make it difficult to confuse with the 'alien wearing a spacesuit' I mentioned...

great work, keep it up!

cLos71

09-18-2005, 11:36 PM

Thank for the feedback!
I had the same thoughts about the sketch with the visible astronaut's face, it helps to integrate the human element to the picture. In the sketch w/o the astronaut's face on is difficult to figure out who or what is in the suit.
In regards to the astronaut looking up ...
In another concept I was fiddling with I had the astronaut look up because I was planning to have a few smaller UFOs hovering out of the clouds in front of him, which you'd be able to see on the reflection of the helmet. I think I'll try it both ways, I usually say simpler is better but this time, why not?!
Thanks again, I think I'll start the linework this week!

Zephyri

09-29-2005, 02:31 PM

Hi Carlos... I'm going to disagree and say that I like the one where you only see the alien's face in the head-on human shot, and not the humans face through the helmet... I think you could add other things to the outfit of the human that make it obvious thats what he is (for example a USA flag, or russian if you fancied being more rebllious... *grin*), and that way you can spend much more time imagining what the alien looks like. I alos think the narrative is nice in that too, it's more of a discovery from the alien's POV, which I think is more original. Aliens are your stronger suit as well, I think, rather than human faces. You could have more of the little aliens hopping round him too then, and maybe move the camera angle down, having the human looking down too, and then you could get a bit more of the mother ship in. I think I like it because it reminds me of the shot of iconic image you'd get on all the newspaper front pages when something like this happens... good work though.

Oh, and one other thing... you're signature link takes you to your M&S entry, not your spectacular one... I almost left you a great long comment on that one instead... :D

cLos71

10-02-2005, 01:38 AM

:lightbulb I think I have an idea of what the final approach is going to be. Now that I have let it rest for a bit plus the greaat feedback, I think I'm ready get my hands "dirty" with the line work. :wip: :arteest: :beer:

Hey gang, I have been visiting the site with much jealousy, seeing all your entries develop—great stuff! I have not had time to touch my entry till tonight, FINALLY Linework. This will be my starting point. As the coloring moves along I will add other elements like the Mother spaceship and Ellie a.k.a. the extraterrestrial and company. Now lets get dirty!

I can't believe I have started the coloring! I an determined to finish this challenge, something always comes up—not fair! BUT, in the words of Donna Summer "enough is enough". I'm not sleepy tonight so I think I'm going to do as much as I can w/o overdoing it or rushing.

Here's the second part of the linework - the fleet. Also helps give a sense of scale. I'm playing with the idea of instead of making this scene be of first contact with ET maybe more along the lines of a Galactic Exchange Program. Hmm, I'll sleep on it. Good nite, Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

I needed a bite to eat. Anyway, here's the astronaut in progress. I realized that the past postings had been washed out because I had forgotten to turn off a layer before saving it - Duh! Chugging along, hopefully I'll get to finish the face tonight as well.

In the zone. You know I have not done anything this weekend but work on this... But it's been lots of fun. I guess from this point on I'll be concentrating on the fine details and adding the aliens hand finishing up a couple of the tiny ships in the background, etc. I'm exhausted... but satisfied.

Really great rendering, and i love the line drawing of the astronauts face. I feel it loses something in the transition to colour though. The chin and bottom lip need more light on them to bring them forward a touch, and the nose feels a bit disjointed. Also, as someone else said, the teeth need whitening... unless he's a heavy coffee drinker. Overall though this shows awesome promise. I'll check back for sure.

cLos71

11-07-2005, 09:18 PM

I thought about that — the teeth. I'll bleach them out a little bit without making Astroboy look to bucky. The chin could definitely need a little umph. I'll be taking care of all of those tonight.! Thanks for the feed back I really appreciate it! I got to make the most of the few days I've been able to put some time in it and finally get to finish a Challenge.

Finally the extraterrestrial element is present. Also I toned down the background, added windows to the spaceships and hinted a landing—barely visible. Now the colors are to dark, I got to figure out a way so when I post the colors are closer to what they are. Can anyone help me with this?

After having some dinner and coming back to it. I decided that is was a bit too much. Sometimes less is more and it totally applies to this case. In addition I also changed the directional light so I could move it to the foreground, I'm much happier with it.

Genesisa

11-09-2005, 10:20 AM

last image is cool but i think i like the one that the alien is looking to the guy and you can see the reflection in his eyes. ejeejeje all of them are spectacuclar,anyway is going to look really awesome if you put that glass on the face at the last image... see you man, good job!!

Here's a bit a could do tonight. I threw a layer really quick to sketch more or less what might end up being the reflection on the glass of the helmet/mask thing. Just to get a feel. Hmm? What do you think?

Sincerely i got to the point where I had to pick one and run with it. Just because i was running out of time and had a window of opportunity to actually sit down and get to work. I could be one of those that procrastinates. And goes back to it and start the whole... maybe I'll try this or maybe that... and I endup never finishing it up.
This time I decided that I was going to finish this Challenge (a cualquier costo!), so I ran with it. Otherwise, trust me, I'd still be fiddling with the sketch, and later try to finish it the night before... you know.
Thanks for the feedback :D Se le agradece mucho!

Today I focused a bit more time on the spacesuit. The lines are not only for aesthetic purposes. Is a network of sensors that monitor body reactions and functions. The brighter stripes are an integrated light system that uses body heat to power up the luminescent material.

elmasfeo

11-11-2005, 09:15 AM

WOW... great job!

when you first drawed the spaceships I thought the image would be too busy, with too many things around, but when you coloured them... you did it wonderfully, it just brings that kind of "spectacularity"... and the alien arm finishes it.... it's...great :thumbsup:

:applause: :applause: :applause:

PS: I wonder why I never get notifications when you update your thread....:shrug:

cLos71

11-11-2005, 01:35 PM

I'm glad it doesn't look overwhelming, I was a bit concerned about that. In regards to the update on the thread, I can only think of checking that the thread subscriprion option is set to Notification type: Instant email notification. Other than that I would ask the Forum Leaders.

This is my contribution for today. I added sort of an armature to the space suit, I think it helps it. In regards to the mask glass, I haven't touched that yet, I'll probably tackle that next and I think the last step is going to be revisitng the background. I feel it could use a bit more detail — just the mountain/rocky part. Suggestions are always welcomed!

I can't believe I'm saying this but, it's true, I'm almost done! I played a bit with the background, adding color and texture. I also added a few more spaceships in the distance and heightened the atmospheric light. Last but not least added a moon and stars. The overall colors seem to be pretty much there, I've been adjusting them often. The last piece to this puzzle will be the reflection of the big mothership on the helmet glass.

medunecer

11-15-2005, 09:09 PM

Great idea and technique! Please, could you tell how you made the lighting stripes on the costume? Congrats again! (the reflected alien is great!)

cLos71

11-15-2005, 09:52 PM

medunecer, I imported a low res version of the image in illustrator and drew the lines. Then copied and pasted the lines in the photoshop file.
Once there, I changed the color and added an outer glow with noise. The dark lines were too plain so i made then have a different reflectiveness from the base material of the suit. So I duplicated the layer on top of itself and changed the color of the lines to a lighter color. Then created a mask that totally hides this new layer and then used the mask to strategically paint back the light colored lines as highlights of the dark ones — my little secret. This way you can easily change the color of the lines if you need to, without erasing the original artwork. Since you'll be working on the mask, switching from black to white to changes the opacity of the object on the layer. Voilá

cLos71

11-15-2005, 09:55 PM

you just meant the glowing ones. Basically the same way but without all the masking. Just draw in illustrator and paste them in Photoshop and add an outer glow.

max112358

11-15-2005, 10:49 PM

excellent work. I like the design of the space suit, the glowing sensor wires look really cool. the expression on the guy's face has a sense of wonder, and gives a good sense of mystery. One little thing that's not really important, but it might look better if the ship on the left of the alien finger was moved to right of the finger. it might be easier to distinguish perspective wise.

OK I'm one round away from finalizing this. I can't believe I'm saying that. And just in time, I got a couple of freelance jobs in today so I got to get this baby done! My vacation is around the corner - sort of speak... OK, focus.
This is what I'm calling my pre final image from this point one is basically just minor changes and fiddling with highlight here or there to make something or other pop.

This is really shaping up! It would make a great book cover! :applause:

cLos71

11-17-2005, 01:27 AM

The same think about yours! I have always like jesters, maybe because they are fun, but also depending on the context they could look very... tricky, they could have a dark side as well.
I consider myself lucky to have had the time to work on it. The whole community experience really helped and encouraged me to keep on going and make time. Actually working on this illustration helped me further hone my PhotoShop painting skills. Last but not least, it added another piece to my book. Is sort of a multi function project.
I'm looking forward to keep this going, it's a lot of fun.

zpapageo

11-17-2005, 01:41 AM

This is coming out great! It reminds me of some classic old scifi book covers.

cLos71

11-17-2005, 06:06 AM

zpapageo I indeed love those old posters. In a very subtle kind of way tried to emulate that kind of feel. No one had brought it up yet - until now! :bounce: Is all about the astronaut suit, kinda retro-mod feel. Thanks again, now I can go to sleep, in SciFi Heaven.

rawwad

11-17-2005, 10:52 AM

Hey, I like this one very much! Great style and idea, Great work with reflections! Keep on rocking :thumbsup:

Thanks to all that encouraged me to go on and to all the feedback. Here's my final coloring of the image. An most likely the final image as well. I don't think I have anything more to do to it. Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving!

ps - jpg compression is making the colors a bit saturated at least on my machine, just in case it looks dark.

cLos71

11-20-2005, 03:51 AM

Finally mankind makes contact ...
Their technology is way more advanced as we expected. In a year there are major positive changes all over the world. All diseases are cured, and what drives the nations world is not a search for power but for survival. They have helped us save our planet and now they want to show us more. There are others out there...
For this purpose the Galactic Exchange program is created. A group of us is exchanged with a group from another kind and get a chance to discover other worlds far beyond our expectations. So far we have made contact with two other species, today I get to rendevouz with third species. Only a couple of galaxies away... it was spectacular .

Hey, what's the rule on entering another one?
I just found out that I have off all next week :twisted:
and I have another sketch... one of my first ideas,
and I was trying thinking of giving it a go.

MoonVisionStudio

11-20-2005, 01:46 PM

Only one entry per artist, unless they changed the rules, PM one of the administrators to make sure.

Jaba153

11-20-2005, 02:05 PM

woaw great image & supa clean render congrats!!:thumbsup:

elmasfeo

11-21-2005, 12:48 PM

congratulations for finishing!!!:buttrock:

It looks amazing, mucha suerte!

cLos71

11-21-2005, 06:52 PM

I'm very glad I finished. Do to ork I wasn't able to finish the previous two challenges and the feeling of frustration was incredible. Finally not only I get to finish it, but two weeks early! Good luck to all! :bounce:

:lightbulb FIY - Whan you guys are ready to upload your image. Follow the FTP directions word by word even the filename that is provided. When you are presented with the FTP info, copy and paste the number you'll be provided and then zip the file. I had to upload it again because it wasn't showing as uploaded. So I used the name provided in the form and zipped the file, seconds after uploading, I hit refresh on the webpage and it updatded a thubmnail of it as confirmation.

Ducklator

11-21-2005, 10:50 PM

Definitively, this is one of my favorites for the challenge.

Great final image... Good luck friend!:buttrock:

GonzaloGolpe

11-22-2005, 09:42 PM

Good luck,Carlos, like the guy suit hehe:thumbsup:

SquishMe

11-23-2005, 01:45 AM

Nice job. Looks very spectacular. Good luck with it!

cLos71

11-23-2005, 11:56 AM

Ducklator, Gonzalo Golpe, SquishMe
Thanks guys I really appreciate your kind words.
Is very encouraging, best of luck to all :thumbsup:

NinjaA55N

11-23-2005, 10:08 PM

very nice! What I prefer the most about this pic r all those little details, reflections and designs of the outfit. really cool! Maybe u could only seperate aliens hand from the human a bit, its sort of hard to read it :/ but that is my only critic. good work!

cLos71

11-24-2005, 07:23 AM

Thanks Ninja! Your entry does not fall short on wonderfull details either. The birds and the cascade beyond adding visual interest and scale they almost adds a sound element to it. Great atmospheric lighting too. Very cool, best of luck! :thumbsup:

rawwad

12-01-2005, 02:06 PM

Hey, It is finally finished! :applause:

Congratz, it look so great, I like main character very much.
Materials and reflections are great too, keep it up and good luck! :bounce:

Screenblind

12-01-2005, 02:11 PM

I agree very much with Blaz. Well done Carlos - I have watched this one with great enjoyment and I think the sense of awe - of the spectacular is very well captured in the expression of the character and the space craft.

cLos71

12-03-2005, 10:25 AM

Thanks guys, I can't believe I had the time to finish it -- 2 wks early no less, otherwise the holidays rush would not have let me finish.

rawwad, I'm looking forward to the next one already.

Avatarist, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think my biggest concern was the facial expression. If I didn't achieve that sense of awe, I think it would have fallen appart. Capturing that reaction was key.

Thanks again and happy holidays!

Atris

12-05-2005, 11:31 AM

Hi! I really like your work! The super futuristic design! Congratulations! I wish you good luck! :)

And to everyone, have a wonderful Holiday Season.
May 2006 be 10x better than this year.
Till next year and next challenge! Good Luck to ALL!! :bounce:

Zeitwolf

12-16-2005, 12:24 PM

I really like this space suit.

(and the guy reminds me of Buzz Lightyear XD)

cLos71

12-20-2005, 05:02 PM

The funny part about the space suit is that... I just found out that there is an aerospace laboratory working on one just like it. Is more like a second skin. Also they are integrating a technology much like the one i have pictured here, in which there are stripe-like sensors all over the suit, it looks more like a scuba suit than the traditional space suit. Funny it's it!

Thanks for the feedback! :beer:

cLos71

01-09-2006, 12:29 AM

Finally going back to New York on Tuesday. Ready for a new challenge!

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